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Lucy Zaytseva

Lucy Zaytseva

UXR Manager
ex-SEGA, ex-Creative Assembly

Lucy Zaytseva is a User Research Manager and speaker specializing in player experience and accessible game design. She has contributed to major franchises including Sonic, Total War, Alien Isolation, and Football Manager, helping teams integrate player insights into development. With a background in neuroscience, she brings a data-driven perspective to understanding player behavior. Having worked across console, PC, mobile, and VR, Lucy is passionate about building research practices, scaling playtesting, and designing inclusive experiences for global audiences.

Talks & sessions

How Feedback Shapes Great Games

​Working with player feedback is essential for a game's success, yet it often remains a "behind-the-scenes" process. Experienced devs don't just guess - they hunt for insights and track the right metrics to decide which direction to take during development. Whether it’s observing behavior through playtests or quantifying behaviour via analytics, every approach has its own benefits and limits. But the main focus is on the fun and enjoyment players should experience - even if, for some, that means a bit of frustration on the way to the end of a Souls-like game.

​How do you achieve not only an award-winning or memorable game, but also a retail hit? That is an intricate task for dedicated teams with open minds who value crossteam collaboration. We invited various researchers from game studios behind hits to share their experience on how player feedback helps them build the games that players love.